1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to Control User Interface (CUI) acquisition, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for acquiring a specialized CUI for a Remote User Interface (RUI) running in a device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A number of industrial standard organizations, such as Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), Home Audio-Video Interoperability (HAVI), and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), are currently developing various technologies relating to home networks. RUI technology is utilized in home networks to control diverse device functions in accordance with a client-server architecture. Specifically, an RUI Client (RUIC) may acquire a CUI from an RUI Server (RUIS) and use the acquired CUI to control an RUI on the RUIC.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional system in which an RUIC is controlled by another RUIC, or remote control device. RUIC 100 receives an RUI and control information from an RUIS 101 via a first protocol interface 103. The RUI is provided for presentation in the RUIC 100, and the control information includes, for example, information for controlling the RUI. A CUI is separated from the received control information and transferred to a remote control device 102 by a CUI manager 105 via a second protocol interface 104. The CUI is presented in the remote control device 102 such that a user of the remote control device 102 is able to control the RUIC 100 via the CUI presented in the remote control device 102, or via the RUI presented on the RUIC 100.
The CUI manager 105 is a logical entity that can be implemented inside or outside of the RUIC 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another conventional system in which an RUIC is controlled by a remote control device. A device 200 is shown, which includes an RUIC 201 and an RUIS 202. The RUIC 201 receives the RUI and control information from the RUES 101 via the first protocol interface 103. A remote control plug-in 203 functions in the RUIC 201. The CUI manager is implemented as an entity that is outside of the RUIC 201, specifically as CEA-2014 RUIS 202. The RUIS 202 separates the CUI from the received control information, and transfers the CUI to the remote control device 102 via the second protocol interface 104.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a conventional system in which an Open Internet Protocol (IP) Television Forum (OITF) device is controlled by a remote control device. An RUIS 301 provides CUI and RUI information to a Declarative Application Environment (DAE) 302 of an OITF 300. A DLNA RUIS 303 is also included in the OITF 300 separate from the DAE 302. The DLNA RUIS 303 communicates with a DLNA RUIC 304 in a remote control device 305, and transfers the CUI to the remote device 305 via a DLNA RUI (HNI-ORI).
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a conventional home network system. In order for the remote control device 102 to obtain a CUI, the remote control device 102 first extracts a User Interface (UI) list Uniform Resource Locator (URL) from description information received from the RUIC 100. The remote control device then sends a request 403 for a CUI list to the RUIC 100. An embedded server, or CUI manager 105, of the RUIC 100 provides the remote control device 102 with the CUI list 400 in an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format. However, the XML CUI list 400 contains only the default CUI list 401 of the RUIC 100, instead of a specialized CUI list 402 from the RUIS 101.